Wolf Witzemann

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Wolfgang Witzemann (born June 28, 1924 in Feldkirch , Austria ; † July 27, 1991 in Munich ) was an Austrian production designer for international film and television.

Life

Witzemann began his professional career at the beginning of the Second World War as an auxiliary lighting technician at the municipal theaters of Augsburg . After his military service 1942–1944, he returned to the theater in Augsburg. In February 1946 Witzemann started working as a sound engineer, technical assistant and stage manager at the Vorarlberger Landestheater in Bregenz .

In 1948 he switched to film and initially worked as a simple or second architect on international productions in the ÖFA Atelier in Thiersee . For example, he was involved in the sets for the two French films The Dreaming Heart and Bluebeard . In 1953 Witzemann moved to Vienna . Under the guidance of his experienced colleagues Werner Schlichting and Otto Pischinger , he took his first steps as chief architect until 1955. Witzemann was initially entrusted with the execution of designs by other production designers, but from 1956 he worked as the sole responsible chief architect. Only in international productions such as John Huston's Freud and A Journey with Love and Death , which were partly made in Austria, did Wolf Witzemann later limit himself to subordinate tasks such as the design of the decorations for the scenes created on site.

German and Austrian films mainly asked Witzemann to build buildings for homeland films such as Försterliesel , Who Loves Home or Der Poacher vom Silberwald and comedies like the Jungfrauenkrieg , Our great nieces or Sing, but don't play with me .

Especially since the beginning of the 1970s, television gained considerably in importance as a new client in his career. This medium demanded more ambitious decorative designs from Witzemann. He was responsible for high-ranking individual productions such as Josef Süß-Oppenheimer and Der Onion Dome, but also multi-part series such as Die Reventlow and Jack Holborn and, together with colleague Herta Hareiter , the series Die Alpensaga . In addition, Wolf Witzemann equipped over 30 television shows for ARD , ZDF and ORF and also repeatedly worked for the theater ( Graz Opera, Vienna Chamber Opera, Linz State Theater, Münster Municipal Theaters ).

Witzemann was also active beyond show business, film and television. For example, he oversaw exhibition stands several times and designed the renovation of restaurants.

Filmography

as chief architect, simple architect or outfitter

literature

  • Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 8: T - Z. David Tomlinson - Theo Zwierski. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 439.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Joke man, wolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Witzemann, Wolfgang (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian film architect and television production designer
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Feldkirch , Austria
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1991
Place of death Munich